In honour of the first and last to fall for Britain

Aside from its rich architecture and culture, the tiny city of Mons is sacred
for British soldiers too

Small place, big history: the liberation of Mons by the Canadian Corps

By Helen Pickles

1:14PM BST 04 Jul 2014

Charming, cobbled and rising gracefully to its 17th-century bell tower, Mons, in western Wallonia, seems a serene and contented town. Add a handsome, historic square, shady boulevards and an impressive Gothic church, and any dark shadows from the past seem unlikely.

Yet it was here that, from a British perspective, two of the most poignant events of the First World War occurred. Both the first British soldier to be killed, Pte John Parr, and the last, Pte George Ellison – the latter less than two hours before the Armistice ceasefire was announced on November 11, 1918 – died here.

Although Mons avoided most of the ravages of the war – the town was some distance behind the front line – it was caught at the beginning and during the final German retreat. It was here, on August 23, 1914, that Britain’s opening battle was fought when the British Expeditionary Force (BEF), having landed at Ostend, first met German troops who were advancing across Belgium towards their prize of France.

Unfortunately, having misjudged the size of the German army – 160,000 to the BEF’s 72,000 – the British became trapped and were forced into a dangerous night-time retreat, although they still managed to inflict more casualties than they suffered: 5,000 Germans were killed compared with 1,500 British.

It was during this manoeuvre that the war’s first Victoria Crosses were won by two soldiers who showed incredible bravery, holding off the enemy at the Mons-Condé canal to allow their comrades to reach safety.

These remarkable soldiers – Lieut Maurice Dease (pictured), aged 24, together with Parr and Ellison, lie buried at Saint-Symphorien Military Cemetery on the town’s outskirts, alongside several hundred other soldiers, both Commonwealth and, unusually, German. Pte Sidney Godley, 25, lived until 1957 and is buried in Essex.

Perhaps most poignantly, the cemetery contains the gravestone of Pte Gordon Price of the Canadian Infantry who was shot at 10.58am on November 11, 1918 – just before Armistice was declared (it was a Canadian battalion that had been sent to liberate the city).

With such a strong and heroic flush of “firsts” and “lasts”, Saint-Symphorien cemetery has been chosen to be the focus of a major commemorative event on August 4 – with distinguished guests from the UK, Belgium and the Commonwealth – to mark the centenary of the war’s outbreak. The event also marks the start of a season of centenary commemorations in Mons, including exhibitions, concerts and re-enactments.

The BEF in Belgium before the Battle of Mons

Surrounded by lush Belgian fields and farmland, Saint-Symphorien is a beautiful and peaceful spot to stand with your thoughts. It’s one of several places in Mons – including commemorative plaques set into walls on either side of Chaussée de Bruxelles – that quietly tell and salute the stories of the war’s brave men and women.

At the Museum of Military History, photographs, documents, uniforms, personal memorabilia plus items of everyday life under occupation, bring to life the part the city played in both the First and Second World War.

One intriguing story concerns the Angels of Mons. According to legend, towards midnight on August 23, 1914, during that first battle when the British troops seemed in a hopeless situation, a host of angels carrying bows and arrows appeared in the sky forcing the Germans to stop. More than 100 British soldiers claimed to have seen something. Maybe it was just a trick of the light but certainly more men reached safety than thought possible.

To discover more about that heroic Battle of Mons – the first in which British troops had fought in Europe since Waterloo – the tourist office produces an excellent and informative trail guide.

First World War German graves at the Saint-Symphorien cemetery

For an exclusive preview of the new Mons Memorial Museum, due to open next year to coincide with the city’s status as European Capital of Culture, try to catch One Object, Several Stories, an exhibition at the Museum of Fine Arts (August 22 to November 23). Several of the exhibits, which explain wartime events through photographs and witness accounts, including diaries, letters to sweethearts, food rations, Field Marshal Montgomery’s beret and a German bomb, will transfer to the new museum.

Away from the remembrance aspects, the Beaux-Arts Mons is a strikingly light, contemporary space with mainly 19th- and 20th-century European art. Early next year there’s a major Van Gogh exhibition; it’s a little-known fact that the artist lived for a short time at the Marsh House, No 3 Rue du Pavillon, on the town’s outskirts. During this time, from 1879-80, Van Gogh abandoned his career as a preacher and turned to art. Inside the house are his letters, interactive displays plus reproductions of his work together with the original The Diggers which he completed while living here.

By contrast, the François Duesberg Museum of Decorative Arts focuses on work of the neoclassical age. Its rich collection of porcelain, bronzes, gold and silverware, plus fabulously exotic clocks – evoking the gilded living of the Napoleonic era – is considered one of the town’s finest jewels.

Housed in the elaborate 19th- century offices of a former bank, the museum lies opposite Saint Waltrude’s Collegiate church. The vast Gothic church, with 29 chapels, took more than 200 years to build and houses one of Belgium’s richest collections of gold and silverware as well as some superb 16th-century stained glass.

Its spire competes for attention with the nearby belfry which, at 280ft, took a mere 11 years to build (1661-1672). Situated in Castle Park at the top of the town, this confection of Renaissance and Baroque styles with four huge clock faces, a pretty carillon ringing every 15 minutes and a gold weather vane, is Unesco-listed. It certainly impressed 19th-century French novelist Victor Hugo; he likened it to “a giant coffee pot, with four smaller teapots under it”.

Castle Park has the finest views of Mons – see if you can count its 12 churches – and the oldest monument, Saint Callixtus Chapel, with an 11th-century crypt, the only remains of the town’s castle.

According to letters to his wife (the author was travelling with his mistress), Hugo was charmed by the little town’s quirkiness and “fantastical buildings”.

There are gracious brick houses and narrow, winding streets leading up to the cobbled Grand Place, surrounded by facades from the 15th century to the elaborately Baroque.

Grand Place of Mons

At its heart is the Gothic Town Hall, started in 1458 and enlarged in the 18th century. Slip inside to find the tranquil Mayor’s garden with its ancient trees and quirky fountain-statue, designed to splash passers-by. It’s a lovely place to sit and listen to the belfry’s carillon.

Be sure to look for the little monkey statue by the Town Hall entrance; stroke it with your left hand to ensure a year of happiness.